name: MCP Server Generator description: Expert guidance for creating, configuring, and deploying Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers. Use when building custom MCP servers, integrating external APIs, or extending Claude with new capabilities. version: 1.0.0 allowed-tools:

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MCP Server Generator

Comprehensive system for creating high-quality Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers that integrate external APIs, databases, and services with Claude.

Core Concepts

What is MCP?

Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard that enables AI applications to connect to external data sources and tools. MCP servers provide:

Resources: File-like data (documents, logs, database schemas)
Tools: Executable functions (API calls, calculations, searches)
Prompts: Reusable prompt templates
Sampling: LLM completion requests

MCP Architecture

┌─────────────┐         ┌─────────────┐         ┌──────────────┐
│   Claude    │ ◄─────► │ MCP Server  │ ◄─────► │ External API │
│  (Client)   │   MCP   │  (Bridge)   │         │  or Service  │
└─────────────┘         └─────────────┘         └──────────────┘

Implementation Patterns

1. TypeScript/Node.js MCP Server

Basic Structure:

#!/usr/bin/env node
import { Server } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/index.js";
import { StdioServerTransport } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/server/stdio.js";
import {
  CallToolRequestSchema,
  ListToolsRequestSchema,
  ListResourcesRequestSchema,
  ReadResourceRequestSchema,
} from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/types.js";

// Initialize server
const server = new Server(
  {
    name: "my-mcp-server",
    version: "1.0.0",
  },
  {
    capabilities: {
      tools: {},
      resources: {},
      prompts: {},
    },
  }
);

// List available tools
server.setRequestHandler(ListToolsRequestSchema, async () => {
  return {
    tools: [
      {
        name: "example_tool",
        description: "An example tool that does something useful",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            query: {
              type: "string",
              description: "The query parameter",
            },
          },
          required: ["query"],
        },
      },
    ],
  };
});

// Handle tool calls
server.setRequestHandler(CallToolRequestSchema, async (request) => {
  const { name, arguments: args } = request.params;

  if (name === "example_tool") {
    const result = await performAction(args.query);
    return {
      content: [
        {
          type: "text",
          text: JSON.stringify(result, null, 2),
        },
      ],
    };
  }

  throw new Error(`Unknown tool: ${name}`);
});

// List resources
server.setRequestHandler(ListResourcesRequestSchema, async () => {
  return {
    resources: [
      {
        uri: "example://resource/1",
        name: "Example Resource",
        description: "An example resource",
        mimeType: "application/json",
      },
    ],
  };
});

// Read resource
server.setRequestHandler(ReadResourceRequestSchema, async (request) => {
  const { uri } = request.params;

  if (uri === "example://resource/1") {
    return {
      contents: [
        {
          uri,
          mimeType: "application/json",
          text: JSON.stringify({ data: "example" }, null, 2),
        },
      ],
    };
  }

  throw new Error(`Resource not found: ${uri}`);
});

// Start server
async function main() {
  const transport = new StdioServerTransport();
  await server.connect(transport);
  console.error("MCP Server running on stdio");
}

main().catch(console.error);

package.json:

{
  "name": "my-mcp-server",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "type": "module",
  "bin": {
    "my-mcp-server": "./dist/index.js"
  },
  "scripts": {
    "build": "tsc && chmod +x dist/index.js",
    "dev": "tsc --watch",
    "prepare": "npm run build"
  },
  "dependencies": {
    "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk": "^0.5.0"
  },
  "devDependencies": {
    "@types/node": "^20.0.0",
    "typescript": "^5.3.0"
  }
}

tsconfig.json:

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "target": "ES2022",
    "module": "Node16",
    "moduleResolution": "Node16",
    "outDir": "./dist",
    "rootDir": "./src",
    "strict": true,
    "esModuleInterop": true,
    "skipLibCheck": true,
    "forceConsistentCasingInFileNames": true,
    "resolveJsonModule": true,
    "declaration": true
  },
  "include": ["src/**/*"],
  "exclude": ["node_modules", "dist"]
}

2. Python MCP Server

Basic Structure:

#!/usr/bin/env python3
import asyncio
import logging
from typing import Any

from mcp.server import Server
from mcp.server.stdio import stdio_server
from mcp.types import (
    Tool,
    TextContent,
    Resource,
    INTERNAL_ERROR,
)

# Configure logging
logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO)
logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)

# Initialize server
app = Server("my-mcp-server")

@app.list_tools()
async def list_tools() -> list[Tool]:
    """List available tools."""
    return [
        Tool(
            name="example_tool",
            description="An example tool that does something useful",
            inputSchema={
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "query": {
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "The query parameter",
                    },
                },
                "required": ["query"],
            },
        ),
    ]

@app.call_tool()
async def call_tool(name: str, arguments: Any) -> list[TextContent]:
    """Handle tool calls."""
    if name == "example_tool":
        query = arguments.get("query")
        result = await perform_action(query)

        return [
            TextContent(
                type="text",
                text=str(result),
            )
        ]

    raise ValueError(f"Unknown tool: {name}")

@app.list_resources()
async def list_resources() -> list[Resource]:
    """List available resources."""
    return [
        Resource(
            uri="example://resource/1",
            name="Example Resource",
            description="An example resource",
            mimeType="application/json",
        ),
    ]

@app.read_resource()
async def read_resource(uri: str) -> str:
    """Read resource content."""
    if uri == "example://resource/1":
        return '{"data": "example"}'

    raise ValueError(f"Resource not found: {uri}")

async def perform_action(query: str) -> dict:
    """Perform the actual action."""
    # Your implementation here
    return {"query": query, "result": "success"}

async def main():
    """Run the MCP server."""
    async with stdio_server() as (read_stream, write_stream):
        await app.run(
            read_stream,
            write_stream,
            app.create_initialization_options()
        )

if __name__ == "__main__":
    asyncio.run(main())

pyproject.toml:

[project]
name = "my-mcp-server"
version = "1.0.0"
description = "MCP server for..."
requires-python = ">=3.10"
dependencies = [
    "mcp>=0.9.0",
]

[project.scripts]
my-mcp-server = "my_mcp_server:main"

[build-system]
requires = ["hatchling"]
build-backend = "hatchling.build"

3. Common MCP Server Patterns

API Integration Server

// GitHub API MCP Server Example
import { Octokit } from "@octokit/rest";

const octokit = new Octokit({ auth: process.env.GITHUB_TOKEN });

server.setRequestHandler(ListToolsRequestSchema, async () => {
  return {
    tools: [
      {
        name: "search_repositories",
        description: "Search GitHub repositories",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            query: { type: "string", description: "Search query" },
            language: { type: "string", description: "Filter by language" },
            limit: { type: "number", description: "Max results", default: 10 },
          },
          required: ["query"],
        },
      },
      {
        name: "get_repository",
        description: "Get repository details",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            owner: { type: "string", description: "Repository owner" },
            repo: { type: "string", description: "Repository name" },
          },
          required: ["owner", "repo"],
        },
      },
      {
        name: "create_issue",
        description: "Create a new issue",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            owner: { type: "string" },
            repo: { type: "string" },
            title: { type: "string" },
            body: { type: "string" },
            labels: { type: "array", items: { type: "string" } },
          },
          required: ["owner", "repo", "title"],
        },
      },
    ],
  };
});

server.setRequestHandler(CallToolRequestSchema, async (request) => {
  const { name, arguments: args } = request.params;

  switch (name) {
    case "search_repositories": {
      const result = await octokit.search.repos({
        q: `${args.query}${args.language ? ` language:${args.language}` : ""}`,
        per_page: args.limit || 10,
      });
      return {
        content: [
          {
            type: "text",
            text: JSON.stringify(
              result.data.items.map((item) => ({
                name: item.full_name,
                description: item.description,
                stars: item.stargazers_count,
                url: item.html_url,
              })),
              null,
              2
            ),
          },
        ],
      };
    }

    case "get_repository": {
      const result = await octokit.repos.get({
        owner: args.owner,
        repo: args.repo,
      });
      return {
        content: [
          { type: "text", text: JSON.stringify(result.data, null, 2) },
        ],
      };
    }

    case "create_issue": {
      const result = await octokit.issues.create({
        owner: args.owner,
        repo: args.repo,
        title: args.title,
        body: args.body,
        labels: args.labels,
      });
      return {
        content: [
          { type: "text", text: `Issue created: ${result.data.html_url}` },
        ],
      };
    }

    default:
      throw new Error(`Unknown tool: ${name}`);
  }
});

Database Integration Server

# PostgreSQL MCP Server Example
import asyncpg
from mcp.server import Server
from mcp.types import Tool, TextContent

app = Server("postgres-mcp-server")

# Connection pool
pool = None

async def init_db():
    global pool
    pool = await asyncpg.create_pool(
        host=os.getenv("DB_HOST", "localhost"),
        port=int(os.getenv("DB_PORT", "5432")),
        database=os.getenv("DB_NAME"),
        user=os.getenv("DB_USER"),
        password=os.getenv("DB_PASSWORD"),
    )

@app.list_tools()
async def list_tools() -> list[Tool]:
    return [
        Tool(
            name="query_database",
            description="Execute a read-only SQL query",
            inputSchema={
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "query": {
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "SQL SELECT query to execute",
                    },
                },
                "required": ["query"],
            },
        ),
        Tool(
            name="get_schema",
            description="Get database schema information",
            inputSchema={
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "table_name": {
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Optional table name to filter",
                    },
                },
            },
        ),
    ]

@app.call_tool()
async def call_tool(name: str, arguments: Any) -> list[TextContent]:
    if name == "query_database":
        query = arguments.get("query", "")

        # Security: Only allow SELECT queries
        if not query.strip().upper().startswith("SELECT"):
            raise ValueError("Only SELECT queries are allowed")

        async with pool.acquire() as conn:
            results = await conn.fetch(query)
            return [
                TextContent(
                    type="text",
                    text=json.dumps([dict(row) for row in results], indent=2),
                )
            ]

    elif name == "get_schema":
        table_filter = arguments.get("table_name")

        query = """
            SELECT table_name, column_name, data_type, is_nullable
            FROM information_schema.columns
            WHERE table_schema = 'public'
        """

        if table_filter:
            query += f" AND table_name = '{table_filter}'"

        async with pool.acquire() as conn:
            results = await conn.fetch(query)
            return [
                TextContent(
                    type="text",
                    text=json.dumps([dict(row) for row in results], indent=2),
                )
            ]

    raise ValueError(f"Unknown tool: {name}")

File System Server

// File System MCP Server
import fs from "fs/promises";
import path from "path";

const ALLOWED_DIRECTORIES = [
  process.env.DOCS_PATH || "./docs",
  process.env.DATA_PATH || "./data",
];

function isPathAllowed(filePath: string): boolean {
  const absPath = path.resolve(filePath);
  return ALLOWED_DIRECTORIES.some((dir) =>
    absPath.startsWith(path.resolve(dir))
  );
}

server.setRequestHandler(ListResourcesRequestSchema, async () => {
  const resources = [];

  for (const dir of ALLOWED_DIRECTORIES) {
    const files = await fs.readdir(dir, { recursive: true });
    for (const file of files) {
      const fullPath = path.join(dir, file);
      const stats = await fs.stat(fullPath);

      if (stats.isFile()) {
        resources.push({
          uri: `file://${fullPath}`,
          name: file,
          description: `File at ${fullPath}`,
          mimeType: getMimeType(fullPath),
        });
      }
    }
  }

  return { resources };
});

server.setRequestHandler(ReadResourceRequestSchema, async (request) => {
  const { uri } = request.params;
  const filePath = uri.replace("file://", "");

  if (!isPathAllowed(filePath)) {
    throw new Error("Access denied");
  }

  const content = await fs.readFile(filePath, "utf-8");

  return {
    contents: [
      {
        uri,
        mimeType: getMimeType(filePath),
        text: content,
      },
    ],
  };
});

server.setRequestHandler(ListToolsRequestSchema, async () => {
  return {
    tools: [
      {
        name: "search_files",
        description: "Search for files by name or content",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            query: { type: "string", description: "Search query" },
            type: {
              type: "string",
              enum: ["name", "content"],
              description: "Search by filename or content",
            },
          },
          required: ["query", "type"],
        },
      },
      {
        name: "write_file",
        description: "Write content to a file",
        inputSchema: {
          type: "object",
          properties: {
            path: { type: "string", description: "File path" },
            content: { type: "string", description: "File content" },
          },
          required: ["path", "content"],
        },
      },
    ],
  };
});

4. Configuration & Deployment

Claude Desktop Configuration:

On macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json On Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "my-mcp-server": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/path/to/my-mcp-server/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "API_KEY": "your-api-key",
        "LOG_LEVEL": "info"
      }
    },
    "python-mcp-server": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["-m", "my_mcp_server"],
      "env": {
        "DATABASE_URL": "postgresql://localhost/mydb"
      }
    },
    "npx-server": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@modelcontextprotocol/server-github"],
      "env": {
        "GITHUB_PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN": "ghp_..."
      }
    }
  }
}

Environment Variables Best Practices:

// Load from .env file
import dotenv from "dotenv";
dotenv.config();

// Validate required env vars
const requiredEnvVars = ["API_KEY", "DATABASE_URL"];
for (const varName of requiredEnvVars) {
  if (!process.env[varName]) {
    throw new Error(`Missing required environment variable: ${varName}`);
  }
}

// Use with defaults
const config = {
  apiKey: process.env.API_KEY,
  apiUrl: process.env.API_URL || "https://api.example.com",
  timeout: parseInt(process.env.TIMEOUT || "30000"),
  maxRetries: parseInt(process.env.MAX_RETRIES || "3"),
};

5. Error Handling & Logging

Comprehensive Error Handling:

import { McpError, ErrorCode } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/types.js";

server.setRequestHandler(CallToolRequestSchema, async (request) => {
  const { name, arguments: args } = request.params;

  try {
    // Validate arguments
    if (!args.query) {
      throw new McpError(
        ErrorCode.InvalidParams,
        "Missing required parameter: query"
      );
    }

    // Perform action
    const result = await performAction(args.query);

    return {
      content: [
        {
          type: "text",
          text: JSON.stringify(result, null, 2),
        },
      ],
    };
  } catch (error) {
    // Log error
    console.error(`Error in tool ${name}:`, error);

    // Return user-friendly error
    if (error instanceof McpError) {
      throw error;
    }

    throw new McpError(
      ErrorCode.InternalError,
      `Failed to execute tool: ${error.message}`
    );
  }
});

Structured Logging:

import logging
import json
from datetime import datetime

# Configure JSON logging
class JSONFormatter(logging.Formatter):
    def format(self, record):
        log_data = {
            "timestamp": datetime.utcnow().isoformat(),
            "level": record.levelname,
            "message": record.getMessage(),
            "module": record.module,
            "function": record.funcName,
        }
        if record.exc_info:
            log_data["exception"] = self.formatException(record.exc_info)
        return json.dumps(log_data)

handler = logging.StreamHandler()
handler.setFormatter(JSONFormatter())
logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
logger.addHandler(handler)
logger.setLevel(logging.INFO)

# Use in code
logger.info("Tool called", extra={"tool_name": name, "args": arguments})
logger.error("API request failed", extra={"status_code": 500, "url": api_url})

6. Testing Strategies

Unit Testing:

import { describe, it, expect, beforeAll, afterAll } from "vitest";
import { Client } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/client/index.js";
import { StdioClientTransport } from "@modelcontextprotocol/sdk/client/stdio.js";

describe("MCP Server", () => {
  let client: Client;
  let transport: StdioClientTransport;

  beforeAll(async () => {
    transport = new StdioClientTransport({
      command: "node",
      args: ["./dist/index.js"],
    });

    client = new Client(
      {
        name: "test-client",
        version: "1.0.0",
      },
      {
        capabilities: {},
      }
    );

    await client.connect(transport);
  });

  afterAll(async () => {
    await client.close();
  });

  it("should list tools", async () => {
    const response = await client.listTools();
    expect(response.tools).toHaveLength(3);
    expect(response.tools[0].name).toBe("example_tool");
  });

  it("should call tool successfully", async () => {
    const response = await client.callTool({
      name: "example_tool",
      arguments: { query: "test" },
    });
    expect(response.content).toBeDefined();
  });

  it("should handle errors gracefully", async () => {
    await expect(
      client.callTool({
        name: "non_existent_tool",
        arguments: {},
      })
    ).rejects.toThrow();
  });
});

Integration Testing:

# Test server manually
node dist/index.js &
SERVER_PID=$!

# Send test requests
echo '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/list"}' | node dist/index.js

# Cleanup
kill $SERVER_PID

7. Performance Optimization

Caching:

import NodeCache from "node-cache";

const cache = new NodeCache({ stdTTL: 600 }); // 10 minutes

server.setRequestHandler(CallToolRequestSchema, async (request) => {
  const { name, arguments: args } = request.params;

  if (name === "expensive_operation") {
    const cacheKey = `${name}:${JSON.stringify(args)}`;

    // Check cache
    const cached = cache.get(cacheKey);
    if (cached) {
      return {
        content: [{ type: "text", text: JSON.stringify(cached) }],
      };
    }

    // Perform operation
    const result = await expensiveOperation(args);

    // Store in cache
    cache.set(cacheKey, result);

    return {
      content: [{ type: "text", text: JSON.stringify(result) }],
    };
  }
});

Rate Limiting:

import rateLimit from "express-rate-limit";

const limiter = new Map();

function checkRateLimit(key: string): boolean {
  const now = Date.now();
  const record = limiter.get(key) || { count: 0, resetAt: now + 60000 };

  if (now > record.resetAt) {
    record.count = 0;
    record.resetAt = now + 60000;
  }

  record.count++;
  limiter.set(key, record);

  return record.count <= 100; // 100 requests per minute
}

server.setRequestHandler(CallToolRequestSchema, async (request) => {
  if (!checkRateLimit("global")) {
    throw new McpError(ErrorCode.InternalError, "Rate limit exceeded");
  }

  // Handle request...
});

8. Security Best Practices

Input Validation:

import { z } from "zod";

const toolInputSchemas = {
  search_query: z.object({
    query: z.string().min(1).max(500),
    limit: z.number().int().min(1).max(100).optional(),
    filters: z.record(z.string()).optional(),
  }),
};

server.setRequestHandler(CallToolRequestSchema, async (request) => {
  const { name, arguments: args } = request.params;

  // Validate input
  const schema = toolInputSchemas[name];
  if (!schema) {
    throw new McpError(ErrorCode.InvalidParams, `Unknown tool: ${name}`);
  }

  try {
    const validatedArgs = schema.parse(args);
    // Use validatedArgs...
  } catch (error) {
    throw new McpError(
      ErrorCode.InvalidParams,
      `Invalid arguments: ${error.message}`
    );
  }
});

Access Control:

function checkPermissions(userId: string, action: string): boolean {
  const permissions = {
    admin: ["read", "write", "delete"],
    user: ["read"],
    guest: [],
  };

  const userRole = getUserRole(userId);
  return permissions[userRole]?.includes(action) || false;
}

server.setRequestHandler(CallToolRequestSchema, async (request) => {
  const userId = request.params._meta?.userId;
  const action = getActionFromTool(request.params.name);

  if (!checkPermissions(userId, action)) {
    throw new McpError(ErrorCode.InvalidParams, "Permission denied");
  }

  // Proceed with request...
});

9. Publishing & Distribution

NPM Package:

{
  "name": "@company/mcp-server-example",
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "description": "MCP server for...",
  "main": "dist/index.js",
  "bin": {
    "mcp-server-example": "dist/index.js"
  },
  "files": ["dist", "README.md", "LICENSE"],
  "keywords": ["mcp", "claude", "mcp-server"],
  "repository": {
    "type": "git",
    "url": "https://github.com/company/mcp-server-example"
  },
  "publishConfig": {
    "access": "public"
  }
}

Docker Distribution:

FROM node:18-alpine
WORKDIR /app
COPY package*.json ./
RUN npm ci --only=production
COPY dist ./dist
USER node
CMD ["node", "dist/index.js"]

10. Documentation Template

README.md:

# My MCP Server

> [Brief description of what this server does]

## Features

- Feature 1
- Feature 2
- Feature 3

## Installation

\`\`\`bash
npm install -g my-mcp-server
\`\`\`

## Configuration

Add to your Claude Desktop config:

\`\`\`json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "my-server": {
      "command": "my-mcp-server",
      "env": {
        "API_KEY": "your-api-key"
      }
    }
  }
}
\`\`\`

## Environment Variables

| Variable | Required | Description |
|----------|----------|-------------|
| API_KEY | Yes | Your API key |
| API_URL | No | API endpoint (default: https://api.example.com) |

## Available Tools

### tool_name

Description of what this tool does.

**Parameters:**
- `param1` (string, required): Description
- `param2` (number, optional): Description

**Example:**
\`\`\`
Use the tool_name tool with parameter "value"
\`\`\`

## Available Resources

### resource://example/1

Description of this resource.

## Development

\`\`\`bash
git clone https://github.com/company/my-mcp-server
cd my-mcp-server
npm install
npm run build
npm run dev
\`\`\`

## License

MIT

Quick Start Checklist

Common Use Cases

API Integration: GitHub, Jira, Slack, Linear, Notion
Database Access: PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis, Elasticsearch
File Systems: Local files, S3, Google Drive, Dropbox
Developer Tools: Git operations, CI/CD, deployment
Business Tools: CRM, ERP, analytics platforms
AI/ML: Vector databases, model APIs, embeddings
Communication: Email, SMS, webhooks, notifications
Monitoring: Logs, metrics, alerts, dashboards

When to Use This Skill:

Invoke when building new MCP servers, troubleshooting existing servers, or integrating external services with Claude.

MCP Server Generator

$ Installer

MCP Server Generator

Core Concepts

What is MCP?

MCP Architecture

Implementation Patterns

1. TypeScript/Node.js MCP Server

2. Python MCP Server

3. Common MCP Server Patterns

API Integration Server

Database Integration Server

File System Server

4. Configuration & Deployment

5. Error Handling & Logging

6. Testing Strategies

7. Performance Optimization

8. Security Best Practices

9. Publishing & Distribution

10. Documentation Template

Quick Start Checklist

Common Use Cases

Repository

Actions

Related Skills